A COMMENTARY ON PREACHING

Preaching is difficult, if not impossible, to define. We all know what
it is not, or at least, what it should not be. Whatever it involves,
preaching is the means by which GOd chose to save them that believe.
The man who stands before an assemblage of eternal souls with a Bible
before him must ever remember the awesome responsibility that is his.
Those who hear him need the message, clear and ungarbled. Eternity
hangs in the balance.

Therefore, preaching must be more than educational discourses or
theological lectures. It must reach the heart! It must make an
impression and that impression must be something of worth.

Preaching is, or should be, a mixture of the message and the messenger,
in which the messenger is, for the most part, unnoticed. Only the
deepest sincerity in the preacher can accomplish that; simulated
sincerity won’t! The true message of God needs no support from cheap
showmanship. Only the false and ugly needs and begs the ornament of
human sensationalism.

We must steep ourselves in the scripture and literally “preach the
Word.” People cannot live long on a diet of syrupy compliments or
caustic rebukes. People need the word of life. A well rounded diet of
sound, seasoned, stimulating scripture-based preaching will keep God’s
flock healthy.

Never has the church needed preaching as it does today. It needs
preachers who are aware of the magnitude of the matter. Every time the
pulpit is occupied it must count! The word must be preached! Doctrine
must be preached! Love must be preached! Holiness and righteousness must
be preached! Preach the Word! Preach! – – – Pray for the preachers!